France has returned three human skulls to Madagascar that were taken during the colonial era, including one believed to belong to a Malagasy king. The skull, thought to be that of King Toera, was handed over on Tuesday in the first official return of human remains since France passed a new law in 2023 that allows such restitutions.
French soldiers killed and beheaded King Toera in 1897 during a violent campaign. His skull, along with others from the Sakalava ethnic group, was taken to France and placed in Paris’s National History Museum. For more than a century, it remained there as part of a collection of thousands of human remains from former colonies.
Madagascar Welcomes the Return of Former King’s Skull
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said these skulls had entered the museum “in circumstances that violated human dignity” and reflected the violence of colonial rule. Madagascar’s Culture Minister Volamiranty Donna Mara called the handover “an immensely significant gesture” and said the absence of the remains had been “an open wound” for the Malagasy people for 128 years.
A joint scientific team confirmed the skulls were from the Sakalava community but could only “presume” that one was King Toera’s. The remains are set to return to Madagascar this Sunday, where they will be buried with dignity.
Since becoming president in 2017, Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged some of France’s wrongs in Africa. During a visit to Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo earlier this year, he asked for “forgiveness” for the country’s “bloody and tragic” colonisation. Madagascar gained independence in 1960 after more than 60 years under French rule.
France to Return Looted Artefacts From Former Colonies
This return is part of a larger effort by France to face its colonial past. In recent years, the country has sent back looted artefacts and remains. But the process was often slow because French law previously required a special bill for each restitution. This happened in 2002, for example, when South Africa asked for the remains of Sarah Baartman, known as the “Hottentot Venus,” who had been exploited in 19th-century Europe.
In 2023, France passed a law making it easier to return human remains. With about 30,000 specimens at Paris’s Musée de l’Homme, a third of which are skulls and skeletons, several countries like Australia and Argentina have also requested ancestral remains.
France also approved a separate law to speed up the return of art stolen by the Nazis. Another law, still under discussion, would allow the return of cultural goods taken during colonial times between 1815 and 1972 through looting, theft, or coercion.
Also Read: France to Return Looted Artefacts of Colonial Era? New Bill Aims to Ease Process of Transfer
